A leading Daily reported recently that the excise officers had raided a party at a well-known fashion store in Delhi and found smuggled French wine being served to the city's who's who.

Hosts had taken the requisite L-49A license but the wine had not been purchased from the designated vend. 48 bottles of Premiere Cuvee Borie Vin De Table Francaise were confiscated.The incident may have caused sleepless nights or embarrassment to a few people and glee to some others, but it does raise a few interesting points. Why was bootlegged wine being served and what was the quality of the wine being served? The answer to the first question may lie in the government policies that allowed free import of wine and liquor last year but imposed

exorbitant duties on it. High prices notwithstanding, local excise laws govern the sales of imported wines, being a state subject. Whereas, in Mumbai, Bangalore, Chandigarh etc. sales are allowed freely through the approved vends, it is not so in Delhi. Even by paying full duties one cannot buy it easily anywhere. Hotel and restaurant prices being prohibitive, one does not have too many options.

The interesting fact is the quality of wine that was being served. France produces some of the best wines in the world, and some of the worst. Unfortunately, Borie does not fall in the former category. According to Classification regulations 'Premiere' does not specify any quality. Cuvee simply means 'blend'. Vin De Table Francaise implies it is French Table wine. This is wine produced or blended in France from grapes of any quality, origin or colour. Herein lies the catch. There are millions of gallons of cheap table wine available in France for even less than one Euro. Using 'French' as the Brand, huge quantities are pushed to the Indian market by aggressive marketers. Total lack of knowledge and education on part of the consumers about wines is exploited to the maximum. The hapless consumer has no choice but to serve and drink this plonk (our closest equivalent word being tharra ). Otherwise, it is hard to imagine that the same people who thrive on single malts and expensive scotch whisky (even when bottled in India) would fathom drinking or serving this quality, perhaps equivalent to the cheapest alcoholic beverage produced in India. I believe Borie sells for Rs.300-350 in the gray market. A quaffable (good daily drinking wine) Chilean retails in Mumbai for Rs.600-650. In this instance, the extra amount spent on decent wine would have been less than Rs.15000, a negligible amount for a party of this caliber.

It is again lack of knowledge and blind faith in foreign brands like' French' that guests and hosts alike shy away from Indian wines some of which are certainly better tasting than the Cuvees doled out at such parties. Three such wines, Grover Red -Reserva (made from Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz) and Sula Sauvignon Blanc and Marquis de Pompadour Sparkling wine from Indage spring to mind. Not only are they superior (though they may not be ahead of competition abroad), they are easily available at the wine shops between Rs.380 and Rs.580. So my advice is that until the government becomes more rational or it dawns on the rulers that wine is good for health when taken in limited quantity and should be available to the masses at reasonable import duties, stick to these Indian brands. Imported wine is fine if you get it duty-free from abroad or as a gift from your traveling friends. Otherwise.drink it at your own risk.

Subhash Arora